What's your Hot Take?

[cmixer]

Today, I'm the old man shaking his fist at the sky.
Here's my opinions. -- What's yours?

• Hobby boxes over $150 with no guarantee of hits (no auto or sketch per box) are stupid. Yes, I'll pay $125 to gamble, no I will not pay $300 to gamble.

• Making sketch cards "hard to hit" (one-per-case) is stupid. You're paying artists $5-10 per sketch. It's not hard to add more to the product.

• Calling something SSP or "case hit" but not numbering them is stupid. For all I know there are another 500 at the warehouse for a future "buy back" insert.

• Having more than five or seven parallels is stupid. Yes, you should insert #/10, #/25, #/50. -- No one needs #/45, #/65, purple mojo modern-wave.

• Manufactured relics are stupid. Don't put random fabric in a card and tell me it's a Muppet.

• Recycled art is stupid. If it's already been in a card set three times, please retire it.

• Lack of innovation is stupid. -- Get a new license, go one the secondary market and buy some unique items for relics, or insert redemptions for oversize cards. And if you're going to insert color-by-number cards PLEASE print them on matte stock (not glossy).

Rant over.

[finfangfan]

Making sketch cards "hard to hit" (one-per-case) is stupid. You're paying artists $5-10 per sketch. It's not hard to add more to the product.

You’d think the rarity would up the quality of the sketches that do fall one per case, but nope… still a boatload of uggos!

One good thing to come out of making sketches more rare is that it did seem to up the secondary values of sketches from earlier sets. I’ve made a pretty good haul on COMC selling off my older Marvel and Star Wars sketch cards.

[maneonemo]

• Bad actors are presenting the $100k Kurosawa Instagram skit as a fact with complete disregard for integrity, in order to shill their overpriced businesses.
• Based on merit, aftermarket sketch cards are a Z-tier collectible, if even that.
• Autograph cards should have real scene accurate backgrounds and none of that photoshopped pattern background nonsense.
• Trading card content creation space is in the absolute gutter when it comes to people having something actually thoughtful to say. Almost all box break videos are brainrot.

[armyml]

-Topps Marvel sets will be just as good as Upper Deck sets if the price comes down on Hobby.

[orion9578]

Originally Posted by armyml

-Topps Marvel sets will be just as good as Upper Deck sets if the price comes down on Hobby.

IF prices come down. I'm not sure why they would, when they backdoor it all to group breakers.

Also IF they start doing more sets besides Chrome/Sapphire AND start using some OA.

Topps reasons to change and do those few things are basically 0. People can't seem to contain themselves and spend 10x what something is worth(per slot) for a chance(most of the time) at absolutely nothing. And why do OA? They sell out every set they make with 0 effort put into said product.

Hopefully I'm wrong and hopefully you're right, because sitting on the sidelines is boring . I'd love to be back in the game

[dd316]

Not just stroking my own ego, but small publishers are curb-stomping the big guys with the creativity in their sets. I know that's where all of my hobby money is being spent.

[PurplesaurusRex]

Super thick base cards that are just another way to pad packs and boxes and make it seem like you are getting a premium product. They add nothing and are a pain to store.

Originally Posted by armyml

-Topps Marvel sets will be just as good as Upper Deck sets if the price comes down on Hobby.

Eh, Topps Marvel has been very underwhelming so far. Not saying UD didn't have room for improvement either. But take a look at the back of the Topps cards, you have maybe 4-5 words in large font. UD actually did some research and history on the characters.

[ThatGuyPal]

People are underestimating the DC license and Skybox and new sets centered on it are gonna be very popular

[crdbored]

Facsimile "autos" are such a GIMMICK.
They are inserts at best and will most certainly drop in value in the future.
(Exception to the 1/1 and maybe /5).

Also, the majority of ultra-modern serialized cards over /99 will be near worthless in the future. Too many sets with the same parallels.

[armyml]

Originally Posted by orion9578

IF prices come down. I'm not sure why they would, when they backdoor it all to group breakers.

Also IF they start doing more sets besides Chrome/Sapphire AND start using some OA.

Topps reasons to change and do those few things are basically 0. People can't seem to contain themselves and spend 10x what something is worth(per slot) for a chance(most of the time) at absolutely nothing. And why do OA? They sell out every set they make with 0 effort put into said product.

Hopefully I'm wrong and hopefully you're right, because sitting on the sidelines is boring . I'd love to be back in the game

Oh yea it absolutely depends on everything you said as well as the other people in the thread. Prices HAVE to come down and they need some product diversity with their sets. We can't just do Chrome/Sapphire/Finest the entire time. Maybe some movie/show sets that aren't awful? I was a fan of the Topps Stranger Things that dropped but that was High Tek. Unfortunately not the biggest fan of High Tek but I'll take what I can get.

[Sickleclaw]

Originally Posted by ThatGuyPal

People are underestimating the DC license and Skybox and new sets centered on it are gonna be very popular

Agreed, I have a feeling Batman Metal will be good, just needs to stop getting pushed back forever.

[dd316]

Originally Posted by PurplesaurusRex

Super thick base cards that are just another way to pad packs and boxes and make it seem like you are getting a premium product. They add nothing and are a pain to store.

YES! I absolutely hate cards that are thick for no reason other than the manufacturer gets to tout them as "premium".

[finfangfan]

Originally Posted by ThatGuyPal

People are underestimating the DC license and Skybox and new sets centered on it are gonna be very popular

I wouldn’t say that people are underestimating the DC license but my hot take is the UD should have lead with Metal rather than some subpar DC sets. They let Topps steal all the thunder in the hobby with their 2025 Marvel and Disney releases.

And my further hot take is that UD should basically have Metal in every set because that’s the only stuff that regularly DOES do well with collectors. It’s like when UD is developing a new set and comes down to “do we want to insert Medallions or Metal into this set?” They are basically boiling things down to … Do we want to print money or not?

[YayNJ]

You start putting Metal in every set, soon it just becomes yet another mass produced, over saturated POS that drags everything down with it.

[finfangfan]

If everything Topps Chrome sells then I’m sure we aren’t anywhere close to Upper Deck oversaturating the market with Metal releases. If anything, UD has already oversaturated the market with poorly received DC sets like DC Annual and the stupid Superman set that still sits at GameStop. Meanwhile pretty much everything Topps puts out gets gobbled up by the masses.

But to the original posters point, I don’t think DC Metal selling well will surprise anyone. Yes, people are ignoring the DC stuff that UD has put out so far but that’s because they are lousy sets… not because they are DC.

[Sickleclaw]

Yeah, Metal has PMGs which should be enough hopefully to drive some interest, and I think once they get their footing, DC has a chance to really shine.

[DynaEtch]

Since we’re on the DC topic…my hot take is the DC cards will have gigantic uphill battle to being anything comparable to what Marvel under upper deck was- I do not think they will be.

DC cards have underperformed in basically every era compared to marvel. There is a huge machine that exists behind marvel cards- it’s rooted in the classic 90s era that’s one of the best runs in nonsports trading cards, and extends to the modern card hobby, with people set in their ways with character collections, large FB groups built around marvel cards, set builders building sets in marvel, etc.

[ThatGuyPal]

Originally Posted by finfangfan

I wouldn’t say that people are underestimating the DC license but my hot take is the UD should have lead with Metal rather than some subpar DC sets. They let Topps steal all the thunder in the hobby with their 2025 Marvel and Disney releases.

And my further hot take is that UD should basically have Metal in every set because that’s the only stuff that regularly DOES do well with collectors. It’s like when UD is developing a new set and comes down to “do we want to insert Medallions or Metal into this set?” They are basically boiling things down to … Do we want to print money or not?

Ummm you said it yourself in the announcement thread lol

“I think Upper Deck also needs to realize that DC (by and large) is not as widely collected as Marvel properties. So they need to price and create a print run to match DC level demand, not Marvel. And I don’t think DC interest can sustain the type of glut of products that UD has done with Marvel recently (I’d even argue that collector interest in Marvel can’t even sustain the glut of Marvel products that UD has popped out in the last year).”

You can say that isn’t underestimating but I personally don’t believe they need to lower print runs so that’s where I suppose we’d disagree on whether people are underestimating the license

[finfangfan]

Originally Posted by ThatGuyPal

Ummm you said it yourself in the announcement thread lol

“I think Upper Deck also needs to realize that DC (by and large) is not as widely collected as Marvel properties. So they need to price and create a print run to match DC level demand, not Marvel. And I don’t think DC interest can sustain the type of glut of products that UD has done with Marvel recently (I’d even argue that collector interest in Marvel can’t even sustain the glut of Marvel products that UD has popped out in the last year).”

You can say that isn’t underestimating but I personally don’t believe they need to lower print runs so that’s where I suppose we’d disagree on whether people are underestimating the license

Oh.. when you mentioned “Skybox” in your hot take “People are underestimating the DC license and Skybox and new sets centered on it are gonna be very popular” I thought you were saying people would be underestimating a DC Metal set being popular. Which had me scratching my head because in a hobby with a lot of disagreements, I think pretty much everyone agrees Metal is printing money. At any rate, if we are in agreement … no need to go back and forth. DC Metal will do well… the other stuff… not so much (or at least not at Marvel levels).

[Bob Ross]

Matthew Traun Allen aka Shyne is still a drug dealer.

Or is this too obvious to be a hot take?

[jdandns]

As soon as non-sports manufacturers started using the word "hits" in their advertising, roughly 20 years ago, I sensed something not good was coming.

That turned out to be trading card packs becoming de facto scratcher lottery tickets coupled with YouTube (and the like) being very easy for the people scratching them to use. The term "ripping" packs, which originated with sports cards, should have never even made it to non-sports, but here we are.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by jdandns

As soon as non-sports manufacturers started using the word "hits" in their advertising, roughly 20 years ago, I sensed something not good was coming.

That turned out to be trading card packs becoming de facto scratcher lottery tickets coupled with YouTube (and the like) being very easy for the people scratching them to use. The term "ripping" packs, which originated with sports cards, should have never even made it to non-sports, but here we are.

This. We had “hits” in old 90s packs like a nice foil card or hologram, but it was nothing like playing the lottery spending big $ for a chance at a big $ card. And the breaking scene that has come with that.

In addition to ‘hits’ is the term ‘RC’ which has been slowly gaining traction since the pandemic especially…this term is a red flag for me in nonsports. Just recently over on Reddit there was someone trying to hype 1989 Venom “RCs” from the McFarlane set.
Another example of the sports-ifying of nonsports.

Nonsports went from older sets with charm, that could be collected and put into official binders etc, to basically modern gambling. And has led to rather sterile sets like Topps Chrome Marvel and Disney etc packed with parallels. When people finally get tired of the glut of manufactured scarcity…look out. I think tried and true stuff like rare promos, harder to find older sets or autos, original art, and even uncut sheets will always be in solid demand…2022 Metal Universe turquoise /49 or whatever…not as much. And that’s what the hobby is chock full of now.

[finfangfan]

I think society in general has embraced gambling more in recent years. My state (MD) introduced the lottery like 40+ years ago… legalized slots like 20 years ago… then table games… and recently in the last few years sports betting. You can’t watch a sporting event anymore without sitting through dozens of gambling commercials. It’s everywhere.

[Brobocop]

Originally Posted by finfangfan

I think society in general has embraced gambling more in recent years. My state (MD) introduced the lottery like 40+ years ago… legalized slots like 20 years ago… then table games… and recently in the last few years sports betting. You can’t watch a sporting event anymore without sitting through dozens of gambling commercials. It’s everywhere.

Less embraced, more, governments allowing capitalism to do its thing and prey on people by gamifying everything.

Can't wait until we can gamble our bills somehow where you can spin a wheel and either pay nothing or pay 3x the bill.

[dd316]

Originally Posted by Brobocop

Can't wait until we can gamble our bills somehow where you can spin a wheel and either pay nothing or pay 3x the bill.

You know it's coming. I see videos where someone wants to sell something to a dealer, the dealer offers too little, and then instead of coming to a happy medium they do rock, paper scissors or flip a coin and somebody loses. But hey, of course it's all streamed for content so there are no losers!